Brown University scandal: board member resigns over growing anti-Semitism on campus

Joseph Edelman (69), a Jewish member of Brown University's board of trustees, announced his resignation in the wake of a vote scheduled for next month on halting investments in Israel-related businesses and over growing anti-Semitism on campus.

Edelman, who joined the board in 2019, reported his decision in a special article published in the Wall Street Journal, in which he expressed concern about the university's stance on the rise of anti-Semitism on campus and the expanding political movement calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.

In the brief, Edelman, who is also CEO of the biotech investment firm Perceptive Advisors, argued, "I find it morally reprehensible that holding a divestment vote was even considered, especially in the wake of the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust," referring to the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in southern Israel.

Anti-Israel protests took over universities in the United States in the middle of the current year, leading to clashes with police and criticism of the way university administrations responded to the events.

While in some cases protest encampments were forcibly evicted, at Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island, the administration yielded to the protesters and agreed to some of their demands, including holding a vote on continued investments in Israel-linked companies.

"How can Brown lend credence to these antisemitic voices, who notably began protesting in support of violence against Jews before Israel had even responded to the Oct. 7 attack?," Edelman added in his article. And he noted that "it’s as if the Brown board has agreed to vote on whether Israel has a right to defend itself, whether Israel has a right to exist, and even whether Jews have a right to exist."

Edelman further stated that "the willingness to hold this vote is a stunning failure of moral leadership at Brown University. I am unwilling to lend my name or give my time to a body that lacks basic moral judgment. I hereby resign from the board of trustees."

Edelman was a major donor to Brown University

In addition to his position on the Board of Trustees, Edelman was considered a major donor to the university. In fact, the Israeli media outlet Calcalist noted that in 2014 he donated $1,650,000 to fund research on radio wave treatments and to upgrade equipment at the Brain Research Institute.

Edelman has not only given money to Brown University, but also has donated to organizations critical of gender ideology. His Edelman Family Foundation gave $1,000,000 in 2022 to a group called Do No Harm, which promotes laws to restrict sex-change treatments.